Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
When we are weak...He is STRONG!!
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
QUESTION: How many times have you talked to God about whats going on in your life? About your trial? Heartaches? Pain? THORNS?
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
QUESTION: How many times have you talked to God about whats going on in your life? About your trial? Heartaches? Pain? THORNS?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Joy
What is it? Lately, this word has continued to come up in different readings, conversation, and even in our scripture memorization this past week at church. The passage was from James 1: 2-4 " Consider it pure JOY, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (NIV) James is talking about JOY with trials? For a long time I thought joy was a feeling that you felt or expressed only when you were happy. Hmm...Not real sure I'm always happy when trails come my way. So what is up with this JOY word? Oh wait....its a fruit of the spirit...even better! Galatians 5:22 " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."
I like the way Eliza Morgan from TCW put it. Talking about the difference between happiness and joy. " Where happiness is circumstantial, joy is not. Joy is more than happiness. The Old Testament describes joy as a quality of life as well as an emotion. The spontaneous songs of worship contained in the Psalms illustrate this kind of joy. Joy is something deep that celebrates God's character despite the circumstances. Joy is about God and his character-and what we really believe about him. Such joy is more than the happiness that happens when life happens to go the way we want. Joy reveals to us what we believe about God to those who are watching and wondering how we'll respond when life happens to let us down."
I would like to introduce you to Rachel a lady that exemplified JOY perfectly. I ran across her website earlier today. The name of her site is Death is not Dying..a faith that saves. On her site www.deathisnotdying.com there was a video clip of her speaking to a group of women. I listened to her speak about the trial of being diagnosed a second time with terminal cancer. She is a wife and mother of two very small children. She knows she has weeks to live. As I listened to this woman it became very clear that she was representing the epitome of JOY. If you have time I recommend listening to the last fifteen minutes of her talk.
So joy is more than an emotion. It is in my words being content knowing God and where He has you despite the circumstance. We live in a fallen world. We are going to experience trials of hardship and pain. When faced with these trials will we have joy in the midst?
I like the way Eliza Morgan from TCW put it. Talking about the difference between happiness and joy. " Where happiness is circumstantial, joy is not. Joy is more than happiness. The Old Testament describes joy as a quality of life as well as an emotion. The spontaneous songs of worship contained in the Psalms illustrate this kind of joy. Joy is something deep that celebrates God's character despite the circumstances. Joy is about God and his character-and what we really believe about him. Such joy is more than the happiness that happens when life happens to go the way we want. Joy reveals to us what we believe about God to those who are watching and wondering how we'll respond when life happens to let us down."
I would like to introduce you to Rachel a lady that exemplified JOY perfectly. I ran across her website earlier today. The name of her site is Death is not Dying..a faith that saves. On her site www.deathisnotdying.com there was a video clip of her speaking to a group of women. I listened to her speak about the trial of being diagnosed a second time with terminal cancer. She is a wife and mother of two very small children. She knows she has weeks to live. As I listened to this woman it became very clear that she was representing the epitome of JOY. If you have time I recommend listening to the last fifteen minutes of her talk.
So joy is more than an emotion. It is in my words being content knowing God and where He has you despite the circumstance. We live in a fallen world. We are going to experience trials of hardship and pain. When faced with these trials will we have joy in the midst?
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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